


Tyria jacobaeae

by DarthAbby



Series: Butterflies and Spiders [2]
Category: Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (2018)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Everyone Lives/Nobody Dies, Butterfly Effect, Gen, Identity Reveal, Miles Morales Needs a Hug
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-21
Updated: 2019-02-21
Packaged: 2019-11-01 23:00:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,208
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17876393
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DarthAbby/pseuds/DarthAbby
Summary: Tyria jacobaeae, the Cinnabar moth. Gets rid of pests, toxic to predators, and loves flying in the sunshine.A little black and red moth that helps people, and a little black and red spider that wants to do the same.Or, Miles Morales makes some choices of his own.





	Tyria jacobaeae

**Author's Note:**

> I said that I wasn't going to continue this but uhhhhhhh here we are ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯
> 
> Takes place after the events of _Leptidea juvernica_ , so I'd suggest reading that one first.
> 
> Apologies in advance for the Spanish

There is no such thing as a small choice. Not really – everything has a consequence, often one that we can never even hope to see. Every decision is important, because every moment is important, because every person is important.

A boy is bit by a spider. He chooses to investigate.

He sees a monster on the rampage. He chooses to stay out of the way, keep himself safe.

He saves a hero’s life.

That’s not a choice – that was an order.

He goes back for more information.

That _is_ a choice.

* * *

Free-falling is exhilarating and terrifying and the best thing in the world and just a bit sickening and Miles _loves it_.

It’s not far from the place where Fisk Tower used to stand to the Parker’s apartment, at least for someone who can swing over the traffic, but he’s shaking by the time he gets there, adrenalin wearing off.

The window is unlocked, of course. He’s not sure if it’s because they were expecting him, or if it’s just never locked. Doesn’t really matter.

MJ is there, still in her fake-Spider-Man-celebration-party dress, though she’d kicked off the heels at some point. May is making a mug of what smells like hot chocolate, satisfied smile on her face as she holds it out towards Miles.

And Peter… Peter is still more bandages than anything else right now, but he’s awake, on the couch, and his eyes are bright with pride.

“Good job, Spider-Man,” he says, the half-healed injuries on his face twisting as he smiles.

“I – I’m not –” Miles stutters, accepting the hot chocolate and pulling the mask up.

“Yeah,” Peter cuts him off. “You are.”

“But – you –”

“If California can have two Hawkeyes, I think New York can have two Spider-Men.”

* * *

It takes several weeks, but Peter is finally healed up enough to go on patrol – and _only_ patrol, according to MJ. Miles is going to handle any fighting that might be necessary.

Miles is ecstatic. Peter is nervous.

“Can you teach me any tricks? Well, any _more_ tricks – I sort of already picked up a few from you, from when I saw you fight Goblin that one time – oh, uh, should I not talk about that? Sorry – but I mean, Peter B. was okay, but he was really grumpy, and he only taught me _basic_ web swinging, and I want some actual _techniques_ and –”

Peter holds up a hand and Miles shuts up, blushing under the mask. “S-sorry.”

“It’s fine,” he assures with a laugh. “Just, let’s go one at a time, okay? Show me what you got, and we’ll go from there.”

Peter might not be able to do much in the way of demonstration, but he’s able to give Miles a few pointers – how to come out of a flip more fluidly, how to find the sturdiest surface for a web in a split second, how to jump off a building without breaking the windows.

The best part of the day, though, is when Miles sticks the landing on a fence, and a little kid rushes over, asking for his autograph, babbling excitedly about how Spider-Man is her hero.

“Oh, well, I can get him, he’s right up –”

But she shoves a notebook at _him_ , a pencil with a chewed eraser sticking out. “Please, Spider-Man?”

And when Miles returns to the rooftop where Peter had watched the whole thing, grinning widely under the mask as Miles had signed _Spider-Man_ in his 3-D graffiti style, Peter just gives him a gentle punch to the shoulder. “I told you. You’re Spider-Man, too.”

* * *

By the time another super villain pokes their nose out of their hidey-hole, Peter is fully healed, which Miles will always be eternally grateful for.

Because the person causing trouble is Doc Ock, and she’s got it out for both of them, but now for Miles in particular.

That bus had definitely _not_ killed her, which is good, because Miles wouldn’t wish death on anyone, but… well, he does kind of wish that it had knocked her into a permanent coma.

If she _was_ in a coma, then he probably _wouldn’t_ be pinned under a collapsed parking deck, completely useless while Peter has to fight her on his own.

He took down Fisk on his own, saved the entire multiverse without help! And now he’s _trapped_ by nothing more than concrete.

Logically, he knows that those two things are very different, but emotionally… he feels like a failure. Like he can’t even protect himself, so how can he ever be trusted to watch Peter’s back? Useless, just totally useless – the other Spiders had been right. Miles _wasn’t_ Spider-Man. Fisk had just been beginner’s luck.

He should hang up the webshooters now, before someone else got hurt. Before someone else got _killed_ – he’d already lost Uncle Aaron. He knew Peter had lost people, too; his Uncle Ben, his parents, his high school sweetheart. He knew Peter was terrified of losing MJ and May. And now, he probably worried about losing Miles, too.

It would be better for everyone if Miles just _stopped_ , he wasn’t a hero, he wasn’t cut out for this –

The concrete above him shifted, and one of the chunks of rubble was suddenly gone, sunlight streaming in and a blessedly familiar voice with it.

“Spidey! You okay, bud?”

“Spidey,” Miles said, squinting up at Peter, silhouetted against the light. “I’m okay, yeah. You?”

“I’m fine,” he brushed off. “Let’s get you out of here.”

* * *

“I think I should stop being Spider-Man.”

Peter takes a long moment before he answers, voice careful and even. “Why?”

“I just… I don’t think I can do this.”

“What brought this on?”

Miles sighs and drops his head into his hands. “That fight with Doc Ock two days ago – I was useless. I was _worse_ than useless, I got trapped in that collapsed parking garage and couldn’t even get myself out.”

“Miles. You were far from useless.”

“But –”

“Don’t you remember why you were there in the first place? The Doc damaged the support columns, and I asked you to get out all the civilians who were sheltering in there.”

“But I got _trapped_ –”

“But you got everyone _out_. Miles,” Peter says gently, putting a hand on his shoulder. “You saved so many lives during that fight. Yes, she got away. Yes, you got trapped. But it doesn’t matter. You _saved people_ , Miles. That’s why we do this. To save people.” He squeezes Miles’ shoulder. “If you want to take a break, that’s fine. I just don’t want you to do it because you think you’re not good enough.”

He hesitates for a moment. “The other Spiders said –”

“And you proved them wrong. It was shitty,” he sighs, “but no one knows the value of ‘when you hit rock bottom, the only way to go is up’ quite like a Spider. If it worked, they knew you’d come through for them. If it didn’t… at least you’d be safe and far away from danger. What they did was wrong, but, well, it was effective in the short run.” He shifts his hand to rest his arm fully around Miles’ shoulders. “If I had been able to help, you never would have had to go through that. I was _furious_ when they told Gwen and I what they had done. I would have kicked all their butts if I had been able to get out of bed at the time.”

Miles gives a shaky laugh at the mental image. “Thanks, Peter.”

“Of course. Don’t ever let anyone tell you you’re worthless, not even your own brain.”

“I’ll try.”

“I know,” he smiles. “And I’ll be here to help when you need it.”

* * *

“Hey, uh, Peter?”

“Yeah, what’s up?”

“How… how did you come out to your aunt?”

Peter had really thought, after their conversation a month ago about Miles not being useless, that they had filled their quota for heavy conversations for a while. Apparently not.

“Well… I sort of just… told her? Just, like, mentioned it as casually as I could one night during dinner. And, uh, she told me she loved me no matter what, didn’t matter who I dated –”

“Wait, what?”

“What?”

“What are you – _dude_ , I meant how did you tell her that you’re _Spider-Man_.”

“OH. Right. _Obviously_. I didn’t, uh, tell her that one. She found me bleeding out on the carpet in the suit. And told me later that she had figured it out herself ages before. I, uh, I don’t recommend that method. The almost-dying way. It’s not fun.”

“No kidding. I can’t believe you thought I was asking about you being, what, bi?”

“Yeah – well, in my defense, you asked how I _came out_ , what else am I supposed to think?”

“We are _literally_ in costume right now.”

“ _Listen_.”

* * *

Miles wrestles with the question of how to tell his parents – _if_ to tell his parents that he’s the new Spider-Man. His dad has at least warmed up to the hero, or at least, isn’t outright hostile anymore.

Well. _His_ Spider-Man, at least. Officer Davis is still coldly professional at best with Peter’s Spider-Man.

“Hey, uh, Officer?” he asks one day, after he and Peter take down some bank robbers and the police are hauling them away. Peter left quickly. Miles stuck around to get some answers.

“Yeah, Spider-Man?” his dad responds, giving him a questioning look over top of his sunglasses.

“You seem okay with me – why don’t you like the other Spidey?”

His dad scowls and crosses his arms. “Because he dragged you into this. I _know_ you’re young – too young to be tangled up in these sorts of messes. But he just lets you run around after him.”

Oh – _oh_. Even when he doesn’t know it’s Miles under the mask, he’s still trying to protect him.

“I can –”

“Kid,” his dad says, firmly but gently, “I got a son at home who’s probably not much younger than you. I worry about him every day, because that’s my job. Parker _should_ be protecting you, but it doesn’t seem to me like he is, because he lets you get involved in these fights.”

“Not all the time,” Miles argues, even though he knows he should leave _right now_ before he does something stupid and gets himself caught. “Only stuff he knows I can handle.”

“ _Still_. It’s not your place to be out here, risking your life – you’re only, what, fifteen?”

“He was only fifteen when he became Spider-Man!” Miles is only thirteen, but like _hell_ is he going to say that.

“That just means he should know better!” he shakes his head angrily. “I know I can’t stop you from going out, but that doesn’t mean I have to like what he’s doing –”

“But it’s _my choice_ ,” Miles snaps. “I didn’t have to do this. I could have stopped as soon as he was fully heled. But I _didn’t_. Because this is _important_. I was always taught to help others, and that’s what I’m doing!”

“You’re just a kid, though, can’t you help by volunteering at a homeless shelter or something?”

“I have a responsibility –”

“Is that what he’s been feeding you? That dumb line about power and responsibility?”

“It’s not _dumb_ , it’s _morality_.”

“It’s going to get you _killed_ –”

“I can take care of myself –”

“You shouldn’t _have_ to –”

“But I _want to!_ ” Miles bursts out. “I _want_ to be out there, saving people, that’s what I’ve _always_ wanted to do! Just like you and Mom!”

His dad freezes and Miles suddenly realizes what he just said and _oh nooooooo_.

His dad is reaching out to him, about to say his name, and Miles doesn’t stick around, swinging away as fast as he can, heart pounding in his ears and hands shaking as he just tries to get far, far away.

* * *

After swinging blindly through the city, getting a little lost, and finally calming down enough that he can get his bearings, he makes it back to the Parker apartment and is only a little surprised to see his mom sitting on the couch, talking with MJ.

“ _Miles_ ,” she gasps when he hops through the window, immediately going off into a worried frenzy of Spanish.

“’m okay, Mom,” he says, pulling off the mask and going willingly into her tight hug. He meets MJ’s eyes over his mom’s shoulder. “Where’re Dad and Peter?”

“Out looking for you,” she says with a raised eyebrow. “You had us worried, Miles.”

“Sorry – _ach_ , Mom, too tight, I need air.”

“Don’t _do_ that to me again _,_ ” she says, only loosening her grip slightly. “When your dad called, I –!” She shakes her head, at a loss for words. “ _No vuelvas a huir de nosotros así_.”

“ _No lo haré, mamá, te lo prometo_ ,” he assures.

“They’re on their way back,” MJ says, reading something on her phone – a text message from Peter, most likely. “And your dad says you’re not allowed to move until he can see you.”

Miles grimaces, but nods. That’s, well, pretty fair. He _did_ probably have a heart attack when Miles accidentally revealed himself and then all but vanished.

Well… he was the one who chose to stick around and start asking questions.

Hopefully he wouldn’t be grounded until he died.

**Author's Note:**

> I could be wrong, but I'm pretty sure the Spanish is as follows (please let me know if the translator fucked up)
> 
> No vuelvas a huir de nosotros así - Don't ever run away from us like that
> 
> No lo haré, mamá, te lo prometo - I won't, Mom, I promise


End file.
